Despite the cold, Super Bowl XLVIII tickets are hot

Tickets to Super Bowl expected to be the highest yet. A Meadowlands suite could run you a cool million.

MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J., will host… (PER-ANDERS PETTERSSON,…)

January 01, 2014|By JD Malone, Of The Morning Call

The Philadelphia Eagles' path to Super Bowl XLVIII in East Rutherford, N.J., begins this weekend and goes through Carolina and possibly Seattle, but for football fans the path goes straight to their wallets.

Trekking to the Super Bowl is always going to put a dent in someone's savings, but a trip to MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands this year will be especially steep. According to ticket resale service SeatGeek, the average price for a ticket so far is $3,928. SeatGeek analyst Connor Gregoire said that is 58 percent higher than last year's game in New Orleans.

That is just the average sale price. The NFL offers seats in the upper deck for as little as $3,100, though all other sections where the league had seats are sold out. On StubHub, another ticket resale broker, almost 2,000 tickets remained Wednesday, and ranged from a humble $3,200 to a princely $110,000 — yes, that's for a single seat.

Gregoire said the highest priced ticket to sell so far was for $10,000 along the sideline in the lower bowl, though he also points out that shopping around can score you a better deal.

"Right now, the best deal on the market is a lower sideline ticket listed at $5,225," Gregoire said.

Or just wait it out. Gregoire said ticket prices fall as the game gets closer and more teams are eliminated.

"Last year, for example, Super Bowl tickets went for an average of $2,930 each the day after the conference championship games," Gregoire said. "Less than two weeks later and only days before the game, the average resale price had fallen 38 percent to $1,814 per ticket."

Jack Daddona, of Upper Saucon Township, took his wife and family in 2005 to the Super Bowl in Jacksonville, the last time the Eagles played for the championship. He wrangled good seats from the Eagles and bought four more from a woman on eBay.

The game, meals, rented condo and flights cost Daddona a small fortune.

"I was talking about this last night, how expensive it was," Daddona said Monday. "I took five people to the Super Bowl, and I could have bought a Mercedes-Benz. It was quite expensive."

Shannon Barbara, of StubHub, said the proximity to New York City, and much of the major population centers along the East Coast, makes this Super Bowl special.

"The upcoming Super Bowl will definitely be unique," Barbara said. "A different beast than others before.

"This year, fans will be able to drive from multiple states, not have to pay for hotels, flights, etc — access alone will be huge."

Barbara said New York state typically falls in the top three among Super Bowl ticket buyers year after year, so demand should be high.

"We're likely to see one of the biggest Super Bowls in history," Barbara said. "Solely based on location."

The 82,500-seat stadium, the home of the New York Giants and Jets, was completed in 2010 at a cost of $1.6 billion. It boasts 10,000 club seats, 200 suites, and four enormous, high-definition scoreboards.

If you are a corporate czar or a Wall Street wonder and cost is not an issue, then MetLife Stadium will more than meet your needs. StubHub offers multiple suites, from $610,000 to more than $1 million. According to SeatGeek, a suite last year in New Orleans ran $406,000.

The suites at MetLife Stadium might be worth it just for use as a warming station.

This will be the first outdoor, cold-weather Super Bowl. Last year on Feb. 2, the Meadowlands saw a high of 28 degrees, and a low of 19.

The weather could trigger a selloff if arctic temperatures dip into the region, or a major snowstorm dumps a foot of powder in the days or even hours before the game, according to both StubHub and SeatGeek.

Daddona doubts the weather will keep fans away, or even depress ticket prices. He said football fans are a tough breed, and Super Bowls are special. Daddona thinks if the Eagles somehow make it, ticket prices will explode.

"People will mortgage their homes," Daddona joked, adding that he would not spring for another Super Bowl. "If the Eagles get in there, oh my word, it would be crazy."